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Contributing Writer Memory, Objects & Elegiac Prose

Marta Vidal

Marta Vidal is a writer and archivist whose work explores what physical objects hold — letters, worn photographs, things kept against all practical reason. She has contributed to Light & Composition since 2016. A photograph for Marta is always a form of preservation, something the photographer chose to keep. Her Reflections open with a specific object and arrive, gently, at what it means when the moment has long passed.

389 Published Reflections

Reflections by Marta Vidal

Showing 12 of 389 essays
The Echo of Painted Shutters Photo of the Day
December 12, 2017

The Echo of Painted Shutters

I keep a small, rusted tin box filled with mismatched buttons, each one a relic from a garment long since surrendered to the moths. There is a deep indigo button from a winter coat I wore when I was seven, and a translucent, pearlescent one that once held together a blouse my grandmother favored on […]
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The Weight of Small Things Photo of the Day
December 2, 2017

The Weight of Small Things

I keep a small, brass key in a velvet-lined box on my desk, though I have long since forgotten which door it once opened. It is heavy for its size, worn smooth by the friction of a thumb that belonged to someone I never knew. There is a peculiar ache in holding an object that […]
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The Weight of Unfolding Photo of the Day
November 25, 2017

The Weight of Unfolding

I keep a small, silver thimble in my desk drawer, worn smooth by a thumb that no longer moves. It is a hollow thing, yet it feels heavy with the weight of all the seams it once helped to close. We spend our lives trying to stitch together the fraying edges of our days, hoping […]
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The Weight of Worn Leather Photo of the Day
November 15, 2017

The Weight of Worn Leather

I keep a small, brass thimble in my desk drawer, its surface pitted and smoothed by decades of resistance against the needle. It belonged to a tailor who lived in the quiet end of our street, a man whose fingers were always stained with the dark ink of indigo and the dust of old wool. […]
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The Weight of the Daily Photo of the Day
November 7, 2017

The Weight of the Daily

I keep a small, rusted tin box on my desk, the kind that once held peppermint lozenges. It is dented at the corners and the lid sticks, but inside, it holds the receipts and scraps of paper I have collected from my own quiet errands over the years. Each slip is a ghost of a […]
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The Weight of a Glance Photo of the Day
October 30, 2017

The Weight of a Glance

I keep a small, tarnished silver thimble in my desk drawer, a relic from a grandmother who spent her life mending what was torn. It is pitted and worn, shaped by the constant, rhythmic pressure of a needle against its surface. When I hold it, I am reminded that attention is a form of devotion. […]
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The Weight of Ribbons Photo of the Day
October 28, 2017

The Weight of Ribbons

I keep a small, frayed silk ribbon in the back of my desk drawer, the kind that once held a braid tight against the wind. It is faded now, the color drained by years of sunlight and the simple passage of seasons, yet it remains heavy with the weight of a childhood afternoon. We spend […]
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The Pause Between Heartbeats Photo of the Day
October 24, 2017

The Pause Between Heartbeats

I keep a small, smooth river stone on my desk, worn down by years of being turned over in my palm. It is a heavy, silent thing, yet it holds the weight of a summer afternoon when time seemed to stop entirely. We spend our lives rushing toward the next hour, the next season, the […]
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The Echo of Stone Photo of the Day
October 21, 2017

The Echo of Stone

I keep a small, rusted skeleton key in a velvet pouch, though I have long since forgotten which door it once opened. It is heavy for its size, cold to the touch, and carries the faint, metallic scent of a house that no longer exists. We spend our lives gathering these fragments—the keys, the pressed […]
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The Weight of Steam Photo of the Day
October 17, 2017

The Weight of Steam

I keep a small, tarnished silver spoon in my drawer, its handle worn smooth by decades of use. It belonged to a grandmother I only knew through the stories told over kitchen tables, yet when I hold it, I feel the phantom weight of the meals she once stirred. There is a quiet, heavy holiness […]
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The Warmth of Small Things Photo of the Day
October 16, 2017

The Warmth of Small Things

I keep a chipped ceramic bowl in the back of my cupboard, its glaze spider-webbed with fine, dark lines from years of use. It is far too fragile to hold anything heavy now, yet I cannot bring myself to part with it. It once belonged to a kitchen where the air always smelled of simmering […]
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The Sweetness of Waiting Photo of the Day
October 16, 2017

The Sweetness of Waiting

I keep a small, rusted tin box in my desk drawer, filled with the colorful, crinkled wrappers of candies I shared with my brother during the long, humid summers of our childhood. The foil is thin and fragile now, tearing at the slightest touch, yet it holds the phantom scent of sugar and the sticky […]
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